Nicola's No Ordinary World is made from recycled objects and gourds.: Art Dolls

I have been creating Art Dolls for many years. I am not sure when it started. I suppose my fascination in dolls grew on me. I went to doll show after doll show and poured over all the amazing dolls and not so amazing dolls. Eventually I found I was attracted to dolls that were different. Hence when I came across a leaflet saying that Robert McKinley was coming to Australia. Coming to Brisbane! Well I just had to go. So I handed over my hard earned cash and had the honour of being taught by one of most talented doll artists I had heared of at the time. (I have decided, when I have the time, to put up the photos I have of this man and his work).

Robert McKinly and Me at the seminar
in Brisbane

Robert McKinley and one of beautiful dolls

Robert McKinly and one of
his dolls

Van Craig Art Dolls (I would have loved to have put up a link but I can not find anything suitable so I have scanned in a picture instead just to let you see why I love his work so much.)

Art Doll- One of Van Craig's amazing dolls

One of Van Criag's amazing
dolls

I count myself fortunate to have collected images of his work when I did because I can find hardly anything about the man and his work on the web.
I can not remember if I had seen his work before Robert's or after all I do know is that I knew I was not 'free' enough within my self to make something like Van Craig's. My daughter said it was because it didn't 'flow' through me like my models do.

As my interest grew I started to sell my work and came across N.O.D.A.A.A ( National Original Doll Association.) I joined and was heavily involved in it for approx five years. I have been away from it for many many years now and do not even know if it is still in existence.

I did, for a time, teach doll making and went to the shows but my life has changed and I have always wanted to create my village and so now my focus is on that. Even so I admire the amazing people out there who create works of fantasy and freedom.
Eventually I became a bit braver with my work, a bit freer with my style and I slowly started creating different dolls. Below are some photos of the work that I have created over the years you can see how the style has changed.

Art Doll-I love the vast array of fabrics, colours & beads in this doll

Art Doll-I love this doll. I am amazed I have been able to create her

This style of doll was created in 2010
and as far as I am concerned shows how
free I am feeling within myself.

Art Doll-Japanese style made out of paper clay and silk

This doll was made as a payment for a debt
I owed someone. It is a real shame that this
is the only photo I have of her.
I must admit I could have made
lots like her except that my heart
lies with my models.

No Ordinary World

The world is awash with the refuse of the human race, but what if some of it could be reused?

In years gone by a place of sanctuary was required to hide from the fears infesting the mind. A world of fantasy grew all around comforting the spirit. Then imagination was not enough. It was necessary to touch what was once thought, tread the paths woven in the mind, to feel the essence of one's dreams, to walk through what was no ordinary world.

But how?

With gourds in one hand and decades of casts off from a life of hording in another, order grew. With plastic, string, balloons and more, plants, fungi and creatures appeared beneath the fingers that wove them into existence. Homes appeared, small, delicate and secretive, filled with the waste thrown away by human beings. Layers of life surrounded them. A touch of nature was added. The earthiness of the gourd embodied them with an essence that made one believe that this could all be real.

As stories began to be told through the written word, the models, entwined within, both grew in size, width and depth.

Strangers looked upon a world that was like no other. It was tactile, full of layers, it drew them in and, with their imaginations ablaze they too now wandered the paths that lay before them lost in the innocence of a childhood long since gone.

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Art Dolls

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